SUNY College at Old Westbury

Founded in 1965, the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, styled as SUNY Old Westbury, is one of SUNY’s newer additions, but a valued part of the state’s public higher education network. It is a liberal arts-inspired college on Long Island, under 25 miles east of New York City.

Though Long Island is home to a number of popular resorts, it is also very rural in places, with farms, sand dunes and white sand beaches. Coastal cycle paths make some of its shores easy to explore, while fishing and whaling are also popular.

SUNY Old Westbury’s campus, which comprises more than 600 acres, is one of the most diverse in the country. The college, which was led by civil rights activist John D. Maguire in the 1970s, has long been committed to teaching a diverse, multicultural student body.

Like many New York colleges, public investment and student numbers fell in the late 1990s, but in SUNY Old Westbury’s case, they have grown significantly since the turn of the millennium, as have staffing levels, the choice of degree programmes, the amount of study space and the number of varsity teams. SUNY Old Westbury graduates’ return on investment is among the highest in the North East.

More than 95% of its students are undergraduates, but there are also 15 postgraduate programmes spread across the college’s four schools. SUNY Old Westbury uses a Monday-Thursday academic structure whereby teaching doesn’t take place on Fridays, although some science students still have labs. Alcohol is banned on campus.

John McTiernan, the director and producer generally known for his work on action films who directed Predator, Die Hard and The Thomas Crown Affair, went to the college.